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Glen Michael (born Cecil Buckland, 16 May 1926) is a British former children's television presenter and an entertainer. His career at
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
spanned 26 years with the popular children's show ''Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade''.


Early career

Michael was born in May 1926 in
Devon, England Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is a ...
. He began his career as an entertainer on stage for the army and worked his way up with his many shows that encompassed his talent for comedy, in particular, impersonations. Upon leaving his native England for the Scottish theatre circuit, he found further success in stage shows with comedians
Rikki Fulton Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton, OBE (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appea ...
and
Jack Milroy Jack Milroy, MBE (born James Cruden; 28 December 1915 – 1 February 2001), was a Scottish comedian. Born in Govanhill, Glasgow and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor Rikki Fulton as Francie ...
. Michael also made an uncredited appearance as "Larry" in the police drama ''
The Blue Lamp ''The Blue Lamp'' is a 1950 British police procedural film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Warner as PC Dixon, Jimmy Hanley as newcomer PC Mitchell, and Dirk Bogarde as criminal Tom Riley. The title refers to the blue lamps that t ...
'' in 1950; he and his date witnessed the shooting of Jack Warner (''
Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...
'') as they entered a cinema.


Television years

Michael eventually turned his attention to television, starring in many
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
productions and dramas including: * ''Living With Computers'' * ''Howard and Wyndham's Five Past Eight Show'' * ''Over to Una'', a comedy show with
Una McLean Una McLean MBE (born 12 January 1930 in Strathaven, Scotland) is a Scottish actress and comedian. She is best known for appearing in pantomimes. She was married to Scottish stage and film actor Russell Hunter from 1991 until his death in 20 ...
* ''Search for Beauty'' * ''Grand Tour'' * ''
Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 Septembe ...
'' * ''Friends and Neighbours'' * ''Would You Believe It?'' (late 1970s) * '' Francie and Josie'' - Michael played many parts, including Josie's cousin when
Jack Milroy Jack Milroy, MBE (born James Cruden; 28 December 1915 – 1 February 2001), was a Scottish comedian. Born in Govanhill, Glasgow and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor Rikki Fulton as Francie ...
was ill * ''The Rikki Fulton Hour'' * '' High Living'' He also appeared in several one-off plays for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and STV.


Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade

Michael achieved his best-known success with ''Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade'', which aired on
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
for the first time on Wednesday 6 April 1966. The show is remembered by viewers in Central Scotland as their first exposure to many famous
cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
and for Michael's companions, Paladin the talking lamp, Totty the Robot and dogs Rudi and Rusti. Children's birthday greetings sent in by viewers was a regular popular feature, with Michael's production team also sending birthday cards to those who could not have their greetings read on air. Although broadcast in the STV region, ''Cavalcade'' also aired periodically in the neighbouring
Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
region during the 1970s and 1980s. In its early years, the show was also carried in southern England by Southern Television (1966-67) and
Westward Television Westward Television was the first ITV (TV network), ITV franchise-holder for the South West England, South West of England. It held the franchise from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward Television provided a ...
(1967-69), allowing Michael to broadcast to his native Devon. Originally airing at around 5pm on weekdays, the show moved to a Saturday timeslot in 1972, before moving again to Sunday afternoons in January 1974. The programme returned to a Saturday morning slot in September 1985, only to return to its Sunday timeslot the following April. In its last few years, ''Cavalcade'' moved to an earlier half-hour slot at 10.45am on Sunday mornings. After over 26 years on air, ''Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade'' was axed in December 1992 and replaced by new local children's programming, such as ''Wemyss Bay 902101'' and ''Skoosh''. A few months after its final broadcast, a special one-off edition was released on VHS, featuring a selection of cartoons from the
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
library.


Other work

Michael presented a weekly show on Saga FM every Sunday, playing songs from stage shows and classic records. When Saga FM was bought by Real Radio company
GMG Radio GMG Radio, and for a short while Real and Smooth Limited, was a company that owned the Real Radio and Smooth Radio networks. As GMG Radio, the company was the radio division of the Guardian Media Group until it was bought in 2012 by Global Rad ...
, Michael decided not to move across to Smooth Radio. Michael also starred in several pantomimes with Jack Milroy and completed many runs at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow, the
Gaiety Theatre, Ayr The Gaiety Theatre is a category B listed performing arts venue in Ayr, Scotland. It is noted for its interior rococo features, its atmosphere and its acoustics. Early history The Ayr Gaiety was built in 1902, reconstructed after a fire in 19 ...
and the Edinburgh Kings in various productions and plays. Michael made a brief cameo in an episode of the BBC series ''
VideoGaiden ''VideoGaiden'' is a Scottish computer games television show that was broadcast by BBC Two Scotland. Its creators and presenters, Robert Florence ("Rab") and Ryan Macleod, were responsible for the internet-distributed videogaming show '' Consolev ...
'', playing himself in a speaking role. In the episode, Michael receives a coconut and some flowers in the mail (in an attempt to recreate the Nintendo game ''
Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. The series was conceptualized and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. In ''Animal Crossing'', the player character is a human who lives in a village inhab ...
'') and sends a thankful letter in response.


Later life

With the end of "Cavalcade", Michael continued working, taking a touring version of the show around Scotland to primary schools. He was assisted by his wife of many years, Beryl. Mark Millar, writer of the comic book '' Kick-Ass'', helped Michael to get a cameo role in the film version of the comic-book series. Miller said that ''Cartoon Cavalcade'' inspired him to become a writer and none of his comic books would exist if it wasn't for Michael and his show. His part, however, was cut from the final edit. Michael said, "I never expected to be in it at all. I think it was meant as a gesture. I think they were trying to make me feel like a real star. I had a trailer which was as big as a coach." Michael did attend the premiere of the movie in London. In 2008 Michael released an autobiography called ''Life's a Cavalcade'', in which he tells how he worked his way to becoming a performer, his life in the army and how he ended up in Scotland.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Glen 1926 births Living people British radio personalities British television presenters Mass media people from Devon